Appropriations committee recommends do‑not‑pass on bill restricting placements to transitional facilities; DOCR warns of higher costs and increased violence

The Senate Appropriations — Human Resources Division voted to recommend do‑not‑pass on Senate Bill 2128 after a multi‑hour hearing featuring detailed fiscal projections and operational testimony from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR).

Colby Bridal, director of DOCR, presented an updated fiscal estimate based on amendments drafted by the Attorney General’s Office and indicated the amended package raised the estimated cost to roughly $44 million across the next two biennia. Bridal and other department witnesses argued the package would remove a key mechanism — transitional facilities and certain incentives tied to good‑time credits — that helps reduce violent reoffending among people moving from prison to community settings.

Bridal told the committee that returning residents now placed in less‑secure transitional facilities back to higher‑security DOCR facilities would raise per‑day custody costs and that restrictions on employment, education and rehabilitation placements would force hiring of civilian staff and raise costs for janitorial, warehouse and maintenance functions currently performed by inmates. He cited program outcomes and recidivism findings in his testimony, including that “people who reenter through a transitional facility are 14% less likely to return to prison in 3 years.” Bridal said removing transitional placements would reduce treatment completions; he noted 306 people completed drug and alcohol treatment in transitional facilities last year and that the state lacks current staffing capacity to replace that treatment on short notice.

The fiscal breakdown in DOCR testimony included: roughly $1.25 million to bring people back from transitional facilities to higher‑security settings; roughly $6.8 million in confinement cost increases due to moving people from lower‑cost transitional placements to higher‑cost custody; additional costs to replace work, education and treatment positions with civilian employees; and an estimated need for eight licensed addiction counselors (LACs) at about $1.6 million total to replace current transitional‑facility treatment capacity.

Several senators raised policy and factual concerns on both sides. Supporters of the bill characterized it as a public‑safety improvement; DOCR and other speakers warned the changes would make facilities and staff less safe and increase the number of victims in the community. The department also cautioned that definitions in the bill (for example, which crimes are considered eligible vs. violent) and the interaction with parole timing (50% vs 85% eligibility points referenced in the bill) created operational uncertainty.

Senator Mather moved a do‑not‑pass recommendation; Senator Cleary seconded. The clerk called the roll and the committee recorded a majority vote in favor of the do‑not‑pass recommendation. The chair said the recommendation would be carried to the full committee and then to the floor.

Why it matters: the bill would change placement authority, good‑time incentives and parole eligibility — decisions that DOCR says affect in‑prison behavior, treatment completions and recidivism, and that would add significant operational and fiscal costs to the corrections system.